I was looking into my tank today and noticed guppy fry! The only issue with this is... I have no idea which guppy had them... I can tell when they're pregnant, but I'm not 100% on how to tell when they're about to give birth... Is there anyway to determine which one had the fry? For mild curiosities sake if nothing else. I'm thinking these poor guys are going to get eaten my net is too big to catch them I discovered and I wasn't entirely prepared for their arrival. Any tips?

TwilightGuy

10-27-2011 03:23 PM

I doubt you'll be able to identify the mother since most if not all guppy fry look the same. The only way I know is to be able to identify each female separately and closely observe them daily. If you only have a few females then I'd make an educated guess at the slimmest one being the mother but it's still a guess. There's no 100% method of determining when they will deliver; I'd keep a logbook of when each one delivered last and calculate 4-5 weeks for each litter. A female ready to deliver will often develop a "squarish" shape to the front of her belly (as opposed to rounded) and, of course, look like she's going to explode. Hovering, quivering, and tail fin-raising are signs that she's about to start dropping very soon.

Put some fine leaf plants in the bottom of the tank, even if they're artificial, to give the fry places to hide from adult fish. They're pretty clever at darting away from a bigger fish chasing them but hiding places will greatly improve survival rates.

Romad

10-27-2011 04:48 PM

If you're trying to isolate the fry, try using a turkey baster to catch them. Good luck.